Microsoft this week released the first preview of Windows Server 2019, the next iteration of its standard server software, and announced that the final code would ship in the second half of its year.
Licensing costs will likely increase for Server 2019, Microsoft added.
The first preview of Server 2019 is now available to attendees of Windows Insider, the preview program that Microsoft established before the launch of Windows 10 and expanded in June 2017 to include Windows Server. Microsoft marked the beta version with the build number 17623.
The Windows Server 2019 beta, general release window, even its nameplate weren’t unexpected. Microsoft flagged each when last year it matched the development and release cadence of Server to that of client versions of Windows and Office.
Three Lines, Microsoft’s most important software by leagues, now releases several interim upgrades each year – these are called “Semi-Annual Channel” releases, or SACs – which in turn lead to a new more static and stable release every two to three years (with emphasis on the latter). These less frequent releases are labeled “Long Term Service Channel” or LTSC.
For Office and Windows Server, the LTSC is also getting a new nickname, such as “Office 2019” or “Windows Server 2019”, to distinguish editions from time to time available as “perpetual” licenses, as opposed to “rental” software. “. from Microsoft via subscription. It is therefore no coincidence that the next editions of Office and Windows Server will share the same “2019” label, since they are both based on the same rhythm of licenses.
Like other products sold as perpetual licenses, Server 2019 will be supported using the standard 5+5 scheme, with five years of “Mainstream” support and another five years of “Extended” support. The former will likely expire in early 2024, while the latter will likely end in early 2029.
However, customers willing to pay for this privilege can get support for an additional six years on top of the usual decade, for a total of 16 years. This option, “Premium Assurance”, debuted in December 2016.
Microsoft puts a stake in the ground
Due to the way Microsoft provides Server SACs and limits support for each to 18 months, Server 2019 – specifically, the preview – will be the first glimpse customers have of the future in an edition that supports loads a full desktop mode.
Windows Server 2016 SAC, same as last year 1709 (using Microsoft ymm nomenclature), the imminence 1803 and even this fall 1809 were limited to Nano and Server Core configurations, with the former being relegated to container-only and neither providing a full desktop GUI (Graphical User Interface).
These SACs, however, were where Microsoft introduced new technologies or features in Windows Server. As with Office development, every two or three years Microsoft will use the contents of the semi-annual SACs to compose the feature set for the next Windows Server X, essentially putting a stake for customers who prefer stability over innovation. instant. .
Erin Chapple, director of program management for Windows Server, outlined the fundamental product additions and enhancements in a March 20 post on a corporate blog.
Among the most notable, Microsoft will integrate its Windows Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) technology into the Server 2019 operating system so administrators can detect and respond to intrusions. ATP, the cornerstone of many of Microsoft’s most expensive and therefore most profitable products, including leading Microsoft 365 subscriptions, will be accompanied by other new tools, including the extension of the shielded virtual machine concept of Server 2016 to encompass virtual machines hosted on Linux. . Server 2019 will also include the ability to encrypt network segments, such as those between servers.
A “What’s New?” more detailed? The description of Server 2019, build 17623 in particular, was offered by Mary Hoffman, a spokesperson who often blogs about Server.
The cost of CAL will increase
Nothing is free, especially if it’s from Microsoft.
Windows Server 2019 will cost more to run than its predecessor, Microsoft admitted, though it didn’t reveal how much more. “It’s highly likely that we will increase Windows Server Client Access License (CAL) prices,” Chapple said in his Tuesday post. “We will provide more details as they become available.” (When the Redmond, Wash. company says “very likely” in the context of price increases, the money is on those increases coming to fruition.)
CALs, as they are called, are the licenses needed to connect other software to the server. Microsoft’s general rule, in fact, is that all access to server software requires a CAL. And because CALs are usually (but not always) required for every user, boosts per CAL can quickly add up, as former Sen. Everett Dirkson (R-Ill.) once said, “from l ‘real money’.
How to Download Server Preview 2019
Build 17623 can be downloaded from the Insider website in disk image (.iso) or Hyper-V (.vhdx) format. The initial release is available in 18 languages, including Chinese, English, German, Korean, and Russian.
Testers must have already registered as an Insider participant; it can be accomplished here.
Copyright © 2018 IDG Communications, Inc.
Comments are closed.